I am interested in applying to some OR faculty positions this academic cycle and I am hoping to get a better understanding of the field. For context, I come from an (electrical) engineering background, specifically control systems.
Classically, it seems the problems that OR people studied (at least the ones I am most familiar with) were related to decision theory, optimization and scheduling, and queuing theory with the general sentiment that solving these problems would be of interest to a company's operations.
More recently, the lines between OR and other fields have gotten a bit more blurry for me. I am seeing more venues that focus on the intersection between OR, economics (game theory), and computer science. For example, see the recent talks at EC. Also see a new INFORMS conference on the intersection of OR and security.
Question(s): My main question concerns the current trajectory of the OR field and OR departments. Is the focus of OR becoming blurry or has the underlying motivation for the field changed? What's the future for OR: as problems traditionally studied under OR become more central in society, will other fields (e.g. computer science) begin to take over/cannibalize OR departments?